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Southern Style Dry Rub Joy of Cooking, 75th Anniversary Edition Molly’s notes: These ribs don’t need sauce. In fact, to sauce these ribs would be an abomination, so I don’t want to hear about it. Commenters who espouse gumming up these ribs with sauce will be scorned. By me. Deb will still be nice to them, but she’s nicer than I am. You can make this less spicy by omitting the ground red (cayenne) pepper. You can make it more straightforward by omitting the cumin. I use nutmeg instead of mace, because who has mace sitting around their kitchen? Not me. The ribs go really well with basic coleslaw–nothing too fancy. Deb made some scrumptious slaw for Memorial Day, and some tasty BBQ beans too. Hush puppies would have been great, too, but we don’t have a deep fat-fryer at Jocelyn’s place, unfortunately. Makes about 2 cups of dry rub 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 1/2 cup paprika (sweet or hot) 1/4 cup chili powder 2 tablespoons ground red pepper 2 tablespoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground mace 1/4 cup salt 1/4 cup cracked black peppercorns Make your spice rub and cover those ribs in it ASAP. The longer they sit in the spices, the better, but let them sit at least an hour. Let them sit up to 24 hours if you want. Wrap them in plastic and refrigerate them until it’s almost time to put them on the grill. You can let them sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes or so before starting the BBQ process. These ribs take about 3 hours total cooking time, sometimes more and sometimes less, depending on how hot your fire is and how thick the slabs of ribs are. [More detailed instructions below.] Everything You Need to Know to Buy, Prep and Cook the Ribs Buying Ribs: I use St. Louis-style ribs, because you get more meat for your money. When you smoke these babies for as long as three hours, you end up with a completely tender result, though the meat on baby-back ribs is technically “more tender.” I am feeding a crowd of hungry, eager people when I do this, and I would have to spend twice as much money (read: over $100) on meat if I used baby-back instead of St. Louis-style ribs. Plus there wouldn’t be enough room on the grill to make dinner for everyone. You have to eat at least six baby-back ribs to be happy, as opposed to three St. Louis-style’s. For my first experiments with BBQ, I used the pre-packaged racks of ribs that are available in most supermarkets’ meat departments for about $12 apiece, but the fresher they are, the better. In fact, I would advise you to ask your butcher when (s)he gets deliveries of fresh ribs, and plan your BBQ-ing accordingly.

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it’s either not done yet or you cooked it at too high a temperature and you completely screwed it up–better luck next time.) Starting the fire: Darren usually starts the fire at Jocelyn’s. and label them so your drunkard friends don’t sabotage your project. (I got the kind that holds your ribs up on their sides. or at Williams-Sonoma. Turn them over every 30 minutes. I just throw a few handfuls on top of the fire in the smoker attachment. In other words. but then we switch to natural hardwood charcoal. I get this at Whole Foods. but I haven’t tried it. and another one on the opposite end of the larger chamber.
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. I also turn the ribs so the small and large ends of the rack are facing different ways during the cooking process. Checking for doneness: The best way to tell if the ribs are done is to take a big pair of tongs and try to kind of twist the rack of ribs around a bit. I also use mesquite or applewood chips (not charcoal) soaked with water to create smoke. There’s enough room for three racks of ribs. but this BBQ-ing business is an inexact science at best. Cooking the Ribs: Indirect heat is essential. The ribs go in between the two fires. I build two fires: one in the smoker attachment. The membrane basically breaks down during the cooking process. the low-tech. meat-side down to start. but I have been known to do this on occasion as well. you put your ribs on the grill. If any of you readers have experience with the rib rack. and you don’t want the fire to be too hot. I would be very interested to hear about it. (Reserve at least three bottles for this purpose. Recently my friend Darren. Rack 2 goes where Rack 3 was. when I turn the ribs over. If it holds firmly together and feels resilient. Also. I lightly pour Magic Hat over the ribs. You should have at least a couple bags of charcoal on hand whenever you make BBQ so you can continue to feed the fire. (3) I can’t imagine that the ribs could be any more tender. I realize there is a massive. We might start the fire with Match Light. If done right. You cannot expect ecstasy if you rush ribs. practicing the lightsaber blindfolded aboard the Millennium Falcon… Grilling the ribs: Once you have two nice piles of glowing hardwood coals.smitten kitchen | molly’s dry-rubbed ribs | print template
http://smittenkitchen. but I don’t really have an opinion on the matter. batten down the hatches and let the ribs bathe in smoky goodness. These are available at Whole Foods as well. This corrects for any differences in temperature within the grill chamber. Well. I reposition them on the grill.) Don’t dump the beer all over the ribs all at once–you want to kind of sprinkle it so it doesn’t wash away all the spice rub. I honestly don’t know what the temperature inside the main grill chamber is. it looks like maybe I did have an opinion on the matter. I add these (wood chips. a seasoned grillmaster. crispy remnant on the bone side of the ribs. The smaller ends get done a little bit more quickly than the big fat parts of the racks. It seems like an unnecessary fuss if you ask me. Darren speculated that it’s probably between 225 and 250 degrees. advised me to get a rib rack so I could make more ribs at once. Rack 1 goes where Rack 2 was. Every time the meat side faces up after turning. contentious debate about this in BBQ-ing circles. not cash) three or four times along the way. I don’t feel the need to perform this surgery. or the ribs won’t get enough heat. you’re not embracing the essential aspects of BBQ’s allure: the primal. For the same reason. doesn’t it? I like the membrane. I use my friend Jocelyn’s big charcoal grill with a smoker attachment. the ribs should start to separate when you twist the rack. kind of. vertically. (2) I don’t know how. but if you buy them at WilliamsSonoma you might as well experiment with throwing dampened dollar bills on your fire. Just make sure they don’t leave the lid of the smoker attachment hanging open when they do this. Imagine yourself as Luke Skywalker. just to get things going. the smoker attachment is good because they can use that fire for direct heat. I think this is because he has not yet been able to truly pig out on ribs to his heart’s content. OK? I like the crispy little membrane wafer you get when you’re done. the intuitive. other than (1) it seems tricky and time-consuming. I don’t know. leaving the ribs to cook undisturbed in the bigger chamber of the grill. Maybe it leaves a bit of a ultra-thin. If stupid party-crashers want to throw things on the grill while you are tending to your precious pork. If you are all wrapped around your thermometer. so I can’t report on how it works. Rack 3 goes where Rack 2 was.com/blog/2008/05/mollys-dry-rubbed-ribs/print/
Prepping the Ribs: I don’t cut out the connective tissue/membrane before cooking. I did buy one of these devices at Home Depot the other day.